Once Upon a Mattress

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Once Upon a Mattress
Cover of original cast recording
Music Mary Rodgers
Lyrics Marshall Barer
Book Jay Thompson
Marshall Barer
Dean Fuller
Based upon Fairy tale The Princess and the Pea
Productions 1959 Broadway production
1960 West End production
1996 Broadway revival

Once Upon a Mattress is a musical comedy that opened off-Broadway on May 11, 1959, and then moved to Broadway. The play was written as an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Princess and the Pea. The show's music was written by Mary Rodgers with lyrics by Marshall Barer and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer.

Contents

[edit] Productions

Once Upon a Mattress was first written as a shorter play at the Tamiment adult summer camp resort. The play was later expanded for the Broadway stage. Initial reviews of the play were mixed, but critics and actors alike were surprised by the show's enduring popularity.

Once Upon a Mattress is a popular choice for high school drama programs and community theatre groups.

[edit] Stage

The original production opened in May 1959 at the off-Broadway Phoenix Theatre (now closed, located on the lower East Side) and then transferred to several Broadway theaters, finally playing at the St. James Theatre, for a total run of 460 performances. The musical was directed by George Abbott and choreographed by Joe Layton. Once Upon A Mattress marked the Broadway debut of stage and TV legend Carol Burnett, who originated the role of Princess Winnifred the Woebegone. Also featured were Joseph Bova, Allen Case, Jack Gilford, Anne Jones, Matt Mattox, and Harry Snow. Actress Jane White played the role of Queen Aggravain, becoming the first African-American woman to portray a white character on the Broadway stage. The play was nominated for the Tony Awards for Best Musical, and Best Leading Actress (Carol Burnett).

A London production of Once Upon a Mattress opened in September 1960 at the Adelphi Theatre and ran for one month. (http://www.musical-theatre.net/html/unsungheroines/patricialambert.html)

A Broadway revival starred Sarah Jessica Parker, Lewis Cleale, and Jane Krakowski. It opened on December 19, 1996 at the Broadhurst Theatre and ran for 188 performances. The producton was nominated for the 1997 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

[edit] Television Film

The first television adaptation was aired on June 3, 1964 on CBS. The film was shot in black and white and featured most of the original Broadway cast.

The second television adaptation was broadcast on December 12, 1972 on CBS. The television movie, filmed in color, included many members of the original cast (including Burnett and White) and also featured Bernadette Peters as Lady Larken. In the movie, several songs were eliminated and characters were cut or altered (including a prologue sequence with Burnett playing a storyteller).

The third television version, which aired on December 18, 2005 on ABC in the US and was released on DVD two days later, starred Carol Burnett as Queen Aggravain, Denis O'Hare as Prince Dauntless, Tom Smothers as King Sextimus, Tracey Ullman as Princess Winnifred, Zooey Deschanel as Lady Larken, and Matthew Morrison as Sir Harry. The Minstrel was cut from this version, negating and also cutting most of the songs featuring the Minstrel except Normandy, which was changed to describe Larken's and Sir Harry's honeymoon. There were also additional plot changes.

[edit] Plot synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Once Upon a Mattress takes place in a fictional medieval kingdom ruled by the devious Queen Aggravaine and the mute King Sextimus the Silent. King Sextimus suffers from a curse that can only be reversed "when the mouse devours the hawk." As the show opens, the populace of the castle complains about an unjust law levied by Queen Aggravaine. She is testing Princess #12; to the queen's delight, the princess misses the last question ("What was the middle name of the daughter-in-law of the best friend of the blacksmith who forged the sword that killed the beast [the dragon killed by St. George]?") and is given a dead bird. The law states that no one may wed until the Prince, Dauntless the Drab, first marries ("throughout the land no one may wed, 'till Dauntless shares his marriage bed") . However, every petitioning princess is sent away after failing an unfair test devised by the Queen. It seems that no one is good enough to marry Prince Dauntless.

The crisis escalates when the leading knight of the realm, Sir Harry, discovers that his girlfriend, Lady Larken, is pregnant. Facing great embarrassment and loss of his station, Sir Harry embarks on a quest to find the last princess in the realm. He soon returns with Princess Winnifred the Woebegone, a brash, unrefined, and muscular princess from the marshlands. She immediately charms Dauntless and most of the townspeople. However, she also succeeds in offending the Queen, who vows to find a way to stop her.

The Queen, assisted by her Wizard sidekick, quickly designs Winnifred's secret "test." They will place a tiny pea beneath twenty thick downy mattresses. If Winnifred is unable to sleep due to the pea, then she will be sensitive enough to marry Dauntless.

As the day of the test approaches, Dauntless and Winnifred fall in love, Harry and Larken break up (only to be later united by Winnifred), and the King, Jester and Minstrel trick the Wizard into telling them of the test. When she finally takes the test, Winnifred cannot fall asleep. She drowsily confronts the Queen the next morning, but Aggravaine insists that the test was rigged. Dauntless tells Aggravaine to "shut up," and the curse on King Sextimus is lifted (the "mouse," or Dauntless, thus devours the "hawk," or Aggravaine). Aggravaine discovers that she cannot talk, and Dauntless and Winnifred are free to be married. The Wizard falls for the King's charm and wit, and leaves the poor Queen hopelessly hopping and skipping on stage.

In the final seconds of the play, the real reason why Winnifred passed the test is revealed. After learning about the test, the King, Minstrel, and Jester stuffed the mattresses full of weapons, jousting equipment, and other sharp items. All the items are removed by the Jester in the Finale. After the items are removed Winnifred still has trouble sleeping until Dauntless takes the pea out from under the mattress, when she then falls asleep almost immediately.

And everyone classically lives happily ever after.

[edit] Musical numbers

  • Overture (Orchestra)
  • Many Moons Ago (Minstrel)
  • An Opening For a Princess (Dauntless, Larken, Ensemble)
  • In a Little While (Harry, Larken)
  • In a Little While (reprise) (Harry, Larken)
  • Shy (Winnifred, Dauntless, Queen, Knights, Ensemble)
  • Sensitivity (Queen, Wizard)
  • The Minstrel, the Jester, and I (Minstrel, Jester, King)
  • The Swamps of Home (Winnifred, Dauntless, Three Ladies-in-Waiting)
  • Normandy (Minstrel, Jester, Larken, King)
  • Spanish Panic (Queen, Wizard, Ensemble)
  • Song of Love (Dauntless, Winnifred, Ensemble)
  • Quiet (Queen, Wizard, Ensemble)
  • Happily Ever After (Winnifred)
  • Man to Man Talk (Dauntless, King)
  • The Potion (Wizard)
  • Very Soft Shoes (Jester)
  • Yesterday I Loved You (Harry, Larken)
  • Nightingale Lullaby (Winnifred, Nightingale)
  • Finale (Ensemble)

[edit] Leading Roles

  • Prince Dauntless
  • Princess Winnifred
  • Queen Aggravain
  • King Sextimus
  • Lady Larken
  • Sir Harry
  • Minstrel
  • Jester
  • Wizard


[edit] External links

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